Stock guide means for machine tools



A ril 18 1933.

p c. A. RICH STOCK GUIDE MENS FOR MACHINE TOOLS Filed July l, 1931 Patented Apr. 18, 1933 ltllTED STATES irA'raNr oFFiciEf V` CHARLES A. RICH, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND; ASSIGNOR TO BROWN & SII-IARPE l MFG. C0., F PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, CORPORATION OF'RHODE ISLAND Y s'rocx GUIDE Means Fon MACHINE rooLs Application filed Julyvl, 1931. .Serial No. 548,170.

My invention relates to improvements in guide means for feeding bars of stock to a machine tool, such as alathe or an automatic screw machine.

An obj-ect of my invention is to provide a guide means which will substantially lessen a large amount of the noise which now takes place in these tubes caused by the rotating bars forcibly striking aga-inst the side yof the tube, thereby providing better efficiency in the worker by the substantial lessening of the noise attendant in' such machines. When bars of stock have been fed in guide tubes of this description particularly if they happen to be of square, hexagonal, or other shape, they tend to strike as they rotate therein against the side Iof the tubes and become scratched. A further objectof my invention therefore is to provide a specific type of yielding cushioning lining which in addition to the substantial elimination of noise will substantially eliminate this knocking or striking. l-.hile I am aware that others have provided various types of devices for these purposes,

I believe that I 'am the first to provide ina guide tube of usual typek a bar supporting lining for said tube having freely flexible side walls and means independent of said lining interposed between said lining and the inner wall of said tube for supporting said lining at spaced points along said tube, whereby the side wall of said lining may freely flex outwardly within said tube between the r portions of support of said supporting means. "E5 As I provide a lining which is at all times substantially in contact with the end or other portion of the rotating stock bar, it' is obvious that substantially no noise will take place m aetween the point of Contact of the lining and L" the As I also provide supporting means .independent of the lining at spaced intervals along Vthe tube, it is obvious that ythe side walls of the lining may freely flex outwardly intermediate said points of support and thus id wear out the energy of the rotating barby noiselessly pressing out the flexible side walls of the lining without causing noise or marring by coming in contact with any sharp y substance, such as the inner walls of the UO tubes themselves. c

means a supplemental sheath spring inl which Y the coils thereof are spaced apart a substantial distance so as to permit a plurality of the coils. of thelining or supporting springl to readily flex in the space between the adjacent coils of the outer sheath spring.

A further object of my invention is to pro.- .Vide means torsecure said lining and supporting means within said tube againstlongitudinal movement. Said means preferably comprises cap members for each end Vof said tube. The cap at the. end thereof adjacent said machine has a hole for the withdrawal of stock therefrom a diameter of such that the edges of the vhole will abut the supporting means and/or lining exterior of the inner periphery of the lining so that the bar of stock may rest on the walls of the resilient lining and thus be subjected to no1 shock or striking against the edges of the'hole in the cap member or the supporting means for the lining.

These and such other objects of my inven,L tion as may hereinafter appear will be best understood from a description of the accom- A l panying drawing which illustrate my inven-l tion attached to ascrew machine.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 i'sa side elevation of my invention attached tot' a screw machine. Fig. 2 isV a longitudinal sectional view of the guide tube Ivpreferably employ showing the inner spring lining and the outer sheath supporting spring and an end of a-rotating bar of stock therein in elevation. l

Fifr. 3 is a sectional view Y taken along the c iin@ Le Cling. a n

Fig. 4. is a sectional view of an end of the tube generally similar to Fig. 2 showing how even when the bar of stochlies horizontally within the guide tube it abuts theinner periphery of the inner supporting spring only.

In the drawing, wherein like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout, I have shown my invention applied to a screw machine 10 of standard type. In machines of this description the work 12 in sto-ck or bars is fed through the rotating work holder 14 and projects through the inner end thereof where the various tools 16 suitably controlled by the index mechanism 18 may be brought to bear upon the projecting end 2() of said rotating work bar of stock. Inasmuch as lathes or screw machines of this description work automatically for quite a time it has been necessary in the art to provide some sort of means to supply a length of sto-ck for them to work on during such a time and it has been customary in the prior art to provide the guide tube 22 of considerable length adapted to receive a'rotating bar of stock or wire 12 and permit it to be worked on with various parts of the screw machine 10 and it has only been necessary for the operative to replace the rotating bar of stock 12 at stated spaced intervals when the machine becomes empty of stock. It is apparent, however, thatas the stock 12 which may be round as shown, square, hexagonal, rectangular or otherwise revolves in the stationary tube 22 that it will rattle therein and the sides and end thereof will tend to vibrate and strike against the inner side of the tube 22, thereby causing a large amount of noise, and tending to break, chip or mar the corners of any irregularly shaped stock.

My invention particularly relates to the substantial lessening of this noise and chipping. The tube 22 may be supported in any manner such as by means of they rear supporting rod 24 and the front supporting rod 26 which may be adjustable in height and which are preferably so made that the outer rod 26 will have a head 28 comprising jaws which may be spaced apart for the lateral removal of the tube 22 therefrom and that the rear supporting rod may have a head 30 universally supported so as to permit pivoting thereof when it is desired to move the end of the tube 22 nearest the screw machine 1() for the insertion of another bar of wire or stock therein.

To the end of providing a type of guiding means which will substantially lessen all the noise caused by the rotating stock and consequent chipping thereof, which of itself will not wear out and which provides a readily fabricatedand cheap structure to accomplish these purposes, I preferably provide a bar supporting lining 32 for said tube having a freely flexible resilient side wall. In my preferred embodiment my preferred bar sup- Aporting lining comprises a helically wound ably having spaced coils 34 so that the individual coils 34 may freely flex outwardly relatively to each other. It is necessary, however, in order to substantially eliminate the noise to provide means to permit the sides 31 of the lining 32 to flex outwardly as successive parts thereof are abutted by the end 36 or side of the rotating stock 12. For this purpose I provide means 38 independent of said lining interposed between said lining and the inner wall of said tube 22 for supporting said lining at spaced points 40 along said tube whereby the side wall of said lining may freely resiliently flex outwardly within said tube between the points of support of said supporting means and thus cause the resiliency of the inner spring or resilient lining itself to take up the shocks caused by the rotating end or sides of the work 12 and as they side walls of the coils 34 will individually stretch within the spaces 42 between the points of support 40 it is obvious that the energy caused by the rotating end 36 oi' side of said work will be completely absorbed by the resilient inertia of the spring itself without causing a sharp contact against the side wall of the tube 22. While any type of means 38 may be employed to support said lining 32 at spaced points 40 along said tube, I preferably employ for this purpose the Hat helically wound sheath strip interposed between said supporting strip 32 and the inner wall of said tube having the coils 40 spaced apart a greater distance than the coils 34 of the resilient supporting strip 32, whereby the coils 34 of said supporting spring or strip 32 contacting the bar 36 may freely resiliently flex outwardly within said tube in the spaces 42 between the more widely spaced coils 40 of said sheath strip 33 as shown more particularly in Fig. 2. -L

I also provide means for securing said lining 32 and supporting means 38 within said tube against longitudinal movement. In my preferred embodiment for this purpose I preferably exteriorly thread the ends of the tube 22 as at 44 and I provide cap members having internally threaded side walls A46 which may be readily threaded on to the threaded ends 44 of the tube having end walls 48 extending annularly inwardly towards the center of said cap members a sufcient amount to abut the ends of the lining or helical supporting spring 32 and the ends of the spaced supporting sheath spring 38 to secure said members 32 and 38 against longitudinal vibration within said tube. I provide the ends of the cap members with the central holes 5() of such a size as to permit insertion therein of different size bars of stock, namely, one tg, 1, 2, etc. In order that the stock may be resiliently supported near the machine end of the guide tube, I preferably .form the hole 50 in the cap member 48 adjacent the machine end of the guide tube so that it may extend exterior of the inner periphery ofsaid to the approximate diameter of the supporting means orsheathistrip 38and provide the central holev 50a in the cap member adjacent said end of such a size to abut the enlarged outer end coil 52 ofsaid supporting strip or lining 32 to permit the-bar end to'resilient- 1y rest on the inner coilsiof said supporting strip 32-without contacting any 'portion of the supporting means 88 Vor. the edge of the hole 52a in the cap memberl i-.8 as shown inFig. l. It is thus obvious that'with theimproved means I employI'am enabled tohave the shock and noise caused bythe end and sides of the rotating rod translated into vibrationY of a freely vibratory and resilient member with'the substantial eliminationV of any objectionable noise, and inasmuchjasthe coils-34 -of the lining 32 are resilient it is also apparent that they will freely give yinstead yof forming a sharp contact with the rotating stock. e a f Itis understood that my inventionv is not limited i to the specific embodiment shown Vand that various deviationsA may be made therefrom Without departing from'the spirit and scope of the appended claims. i 7 lVhat I claim is: i l. Guide means for feeding bars ofstock to `machine tools,.includinga tube, a helically wound bar supporting. resilient strip within said tube having spaced coils,`a flat helically wound sheath strip interposed between .ing strip contacting said bar mayzfreely resiliently. flex outwardly within said tube betweenthe more widely spaced coils of said sheath strip, and cap. members securedv to the ends of said tube having end walls abutting the ends of said strips tofsecure them against longitudinal vibration having central holesr ,therein extending exterior of Vthe inner pe-V riphery of saidbar supporting and sheath strips of a sizertofpermit insertion of-diiferent sized bars of stock.

2. Guidemeans for feeding bars of stock to machine tools,V includingv a tube, VaV flat helically wound bar supporting spring within said tube having spaced coils, a flat helically wound sheath springinterposed betweensaid supporting spring and the inner wall` of said tube having coils spaced apart a greater distance than those of the resilientv supporting spring whereby the coils of said freely resiliently flex outwardly within said tube between theVmore-widelyspaced coils of said sheath'spring, and cap members securedV to the ends of said tube having end i walls abutting the ends of said springs to secure them againstV longitudinal vibration having central holes therein of a size to permit insertion of dierent sized bars of stock.l

3. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a tube, a helically wound bar supporting resilient strip within said tube, a helically wound sheath strip interposed between saidsupporting strip and the inner wall of,y said tube having coils spaced apart a substantial distance whereby the coils of said supporting strip contacting saidbar may freely resiliently iex outwardly within said tube between the spaced coils of said sheaf strip, and cap members secured to the ends of said tube having end walls abutting the ends of said strips to secure them against longitudinal vibration Ahaving central holes thereinV of a size topermit insertion off different sized bars of'stock.'

4. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a tube, a helical- ,ly wound bar supporting spring within said tube, a helically wound sheath spring interposed between said supporting Vspring and the' inner-'wall of said tubel having coils spaced aparta substantial `.distance whereby Athe coils-of 'said supporting spring-contacting said bar may freely resiliently 'flex outwardly within said tube between! the spaced -coils ofsaid vsheath spring., and cap members secured to the ends ofsaid tube having end4 walls abuttingtlie ends of-said springs to secure them against longitudinal vibration hav-ing central holes therein of a size to permit insertion of different sized bars ofstock.' l s. y Y n,

5. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a-tube, a helicallywound bar supporting spring within A said tube, a helically Awound sheath spring interposed between said supporting'spring, and the'inner wall of said tube having coils spaced apartasubstantial distance whereby wardly Vrwithin said tube between the spaced coils of said sheath spring, and cap members secured to the endsof said tube having end walls abutting the ends of said springs to -se'- cure themY against Alongitudinal vibration having central holes therein extending eX- terior ofthe inner periphery of said b ar supporting and sheath springs of a Asize to permit insertion of Vdifferent sized bars of stock.' f, n 'y i 6. Guide meansr for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a tube, a helically woundbar supporting resilient strip within said tube having spacedv coils, alhelically wound sheath stripv interposed between .said

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supporting strip and the inner wall of said tube having coils spaced apart a greater' distance than those of the resilient supporting strip whereby the coils of said supporting strip contacting said bar may freely resiliently flex outwardly within said tube between the more widely spaced coils of said sheath strip.

7. Guide means for feeding` bars of stoclr to machine tools, including a tube, a helical ly wound bar supporting spring within said tube having spaced coils,a helically wound sheath spring interposed between said supporting spring and the inner wall of said tube having coils spaced apart a, substantial distance whereby the coils of said supporting spring contacting said bar may freely re siliently flex outwardly within said tube between the more widely spaced coils of said sheath spring.

S. Guide means for feeding bars of stock` to machine tools, including a guide tube, a bar supporting lining for said tube having a freely flexible resilient side wall, means independent of said lining inter-posed between said lining and the inner wall of said tube for supporting said lining at spaced points along said tube only whereby th-e side walls of said lining may freely resiliently flex outwardly within said tube between the polnts of support of said supporting means, and means for securing said lining and supporting means within said tube against longitudinal movement. v

9. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a guide tube, a bar supporting lining for said tube'having a freely flexible resilient side wall, and means independent of said lining interposed between said lining and the inner wall of said tube for supporting said lining at spaced points along said tube only whereby the side wall of said lining may freely resiliently flex outwardly within said tube between the points of support of said supporting means.

10. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a guide tube, a helical bar supporting spring within said tube, means independent of said spring interposed between said spring and the inner wall of said tube for supporting said spring at spaced points along said tube only, whereby individual coils of said spring may freely flex outwardly within said tube between the points of support of said supporting means, and means for securing said spring and supporting means within said tube against longitudinal movement.

11. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a guide tube, a helical bar supporting spring within said tube, means independent of said spring inter posed between said spring and theinner wall of said tube for supporting said spring at spaced points along said tube only, whereby individual coils of said spring may Vfreely ex outwardlyl within said tube between the points of support of said supporting means.

12. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a tube, a helically wound bar supporting resilient strip within said tubehaving spaced coils, a flat helically wound sheath'strip interposed between said supporting strip and the inner wall of said tube having coils spaced apart a greater distance than those of the resilient supporting strip whereby the coils of said supporting strip contacting said bar may freelyresiliently flex outwardly within said tube between the more widely spaced coils of said sheath strip, and cap members secured to the ends of saidv tube having end wallsabutting the ends of said strips to secure them against longitudinal vibration having central holes therein,

the end coil of the supporting strip adjacent the machine end of said tube being enlarged to the approximate diameter. of the sheath strip beyond the sheath strip and the central hole in the cap member adjacent said end be ing of a size to abut the enlarged outer edged coil of the supporting strip to permit the bar end to resiliently rest on the supporting strip. Y

13. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, including a tube, a helically wound bar supporting spring within said tube, a. helicallywound sheath spring interposed between said supporting spring and the inner wall of said tube having coils spaced apart a substantial distance whereby the coils of said supporting spring contacting said bar may freely resiliently flex outwardly within said tube between the spaced coils of said sheath spring, and cap members secured toV the ends of said tube having end walls abutting the ends of said springs to secure them against longitudinal vibration having central holes therein of a size to permit insertion of different sizedv bars of stock, the end coil of the supporting spring adjacent the machine end of said tube being enlarged to the approximate diameter of the sheath spring beyond the sheath spring and the central hole in the cap member adjacent said end being of a size to abut the enlarged outer edge coil of the supporting spring to permit the bar end to resiliently rest on the supporting spring.

la. Guide means for feeding bars of stock to machine tools, comprising a tube, a pl-urality of helically wound bar supporting members within said tube, one of said members being adapted to be in Contact with the bar of stock and another of said members lying between said inner bar contacting member and the inner surface of the tube.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES A. eren. 

